National briefs

The distribution of about $300 million in funds owed to clients of collapsed broker MF Global will be delayed until after June. The Supreme Court has set a final four-day hearing commencing on June 26. “This timing is intended to allow the client representatives sufficient time to review the relevant evidence and to prepare appropriate submissions," administrator Chris Campbell of Deloitte said. John Kehoe

Tax dodgers to fess up
The Australian Taxation Office has urged taxpayers to reveal offshore income in a bid to capture untaxed money flows, using the carrot of an 80 per cent reduction in penalties on full voluntary disclosures. “There are some taxpayers who deliberately attempt to conceal income but there are others who are genuinely unaware of their taxation obligations in relation to offshore income and assets," Tax Commissioner
Michael D’Ascenzo
said. The efforts complement more aggressive tactics from his office, including gathering information from banks and international revenue agencies. The penalty discount is not new and has prompted Schurgott Noolan partner Andrew Noolan to call the ATO’s use of a Taxpayer Alert to flag the initiative “unusual". Katie Walsh

A state funeral to honour Irish-born AFL legend
Jim Stynes
will be held in Melbourne on Tuesday. The 45-year-old succumbed to cancer on Tuesday. The state funeral would be held at 11am in Melbourne’s St Paul’s Cathedral, Victorian Premier
Ted Baillieu
announced. The ceremony would also be broadcast at Federation Square because of the significant public interest, he said.AAP

The campaign to rid the world of nuclear weapons has inspired a rare show of bipartisan unity in federal Parliament. Yesterday, Prime Minister
Julia Gillard
moved a lower house motion to renew Australia’s commitment to the eradication of all nuclear weapons. The motion calls on nuclear-armed nations to cut their stockpiles and for states outside the nuclear non-proliferation treaty to join. AAP

A clash is looming at an Aboriginal tent embassy in Perth after the police commissioner urged the city council to order the protesters off a public reserve. Protesters have been camped at Heirisson Island on the Swan River since mid-February, saying they oppose the WA government’s proposed $1 billion native title deal with the Noongar people of the state’s south-west.AAP

Greens want whips axed
The Greens are supporting a call from the RSPCA to ban the use of whips in horseracing. Footage of 15 race finishes taken at Gosford racetrack last year obtained by the RSPCA and viewed by University of Sydney veterinarian Professor Paul McGreevy showed 13 occasions when the whip hit a horse’s head. AAP